Actually for most of my family, you probably want to tune out of this post. This is a summary post for my ISys 532 class, Information Architecture. So unless web services and model-driven architecture is on your casual reading list, check back later and I’m sure Megan will have posted some extremely witty story. For those who dare, read on!
1. Understand enterprise information architecture so you can articulate a rational position on when and why various supporting methodologies, tools, and protocols are helpful or not helpful in a particular business environment. Major information architecture topics you should know well include the following:
This class has helped me gain the knowledge to move forward and gain a better understanding of what can be done and what is out there for enterprise systems. I liked how we had a general overview of many aspects of information architecture and hands-on assignments in many of them. Actually doing the work helps internalize the processes that we talked about in class.
a. Enterprise application integration
Enterprise systems are getting big, complex and contain terabytes of information. How do we get all that information under control? One simple phrase: Enterprise application integration. What may sound easy isn’t so easy in practice. Enterprise application integration is the concept that all systems can be interwoven through one single interface, to realize competitive advantages over other companies. Most of the time this is a very slow process, as large companies can have thousands of different programs, interfaces and functions (believe me, I worked at Wal-Mart last summer). Most major companies are working towards this goal or have already achieved this goal.
b. Service oriented architecture
I believe SOA is the architecture that will really take off in the years to come and it is already showing up in many organizations. This last week I had a BYU project manager interview for another class. One of his current projects was to implement SOA architecture here at BYU. If BYU is implementing SOA, then we know it has gone mainstream. BYU doesn’t adopt something unless they know it’s a best practice. SOA is a great idea that allows different functions of a system to be broken down into individual services, and these services are independent of one another. These services can then be mashed to together to perform the bigger overall functions. Different areas of the business can call these functions, pass in certain parameters specified by the service and receive a standard answer. SOA cuts down on redundant code and is platform independent.
c. Model-driven architecture and executable models
Kent and I did our paper on Model Driven Architecture. Model-driven architecture is the ability to create working programs by only completing the higher level data modeling. MDA provides great advantages in theory. Once you finish the data model, you have the ability to export code to any language that your tool is compatible with. After talking about MDA with numerous people, I found that MDA, at least among the younger generation, has a less than worthy reputation. Our generation doesn’t believe in MDA. We believe in the concept and think MDA is a good idea, but we don’t believe there is any tool out there that can complete the job from start to finish. I think we’re looking for a service that can produce the whole working system straight from our model, but the MDA programs aren’t currently capable of that. I also learned a lot about the abstraction of programming languages. Every generation of programming languages has gotten easier to understand by human minds. I believe MDA is where the world will move in the future but as of right now, there’s nothing capable of accomplishing the fully functional MDA services from start to finish.
d. Web services
Although there were many grumblings about the difficulty of the web services assignment, I was confident that I could tackle the web services assignment and succeed. Needless to say, the assignment took a lot longer than I anticipated. I wanted to write my web service in PHP, since that was the language I was using at work and was most familiar with and it seemed a lot easier than doing one in Java. There were several good tutorials on how to use PHP to write a web service. Having a PHP web service library abstracted a lot of the more confusing aspects of the web service. Creating a web service to handle one variable was very easy. Throwing in multiple variables of different types was a little trickier. By the end of the assignment, it was rewarding to refresh the page and know that you got this weather information from another web service somewhere out in the Internet. The concept of web services is fascinating. The notion of people creating hundreds of services out there for us to access, and the ability to access it in a like fashion, is where the internet is going. Google allows us to use their GoogleMaps API to access web services in their maps area. Programming a page to use a web service can take as little as five minutes, as showcased in www.ldstemplemaps.com.
2. Understand the key role of database management systems in enterprise information architecture and demonstrate the major elements of DBMS optimization, including DBMS server tuning and SQL query optimization.
The db optimization assignment really had me scared, but Swavek and I sat down and diligently started to chip away at the requirements. It is surprising how something as simple as an index can dramatically affect your query efficiency. Time after time we would test the query before and after and see incredible results. Well, savings of a few tenths of a second, but when you have millions of queries in an enterprise system, tenths of a second makes a huge difference. Afterwards, I reflected on what I had learned and how the assignment could help me at my current work. Right now at my work we’ve switched most of our tables to InnoDB, but we run into problems with tables that are used mostly for reading. InnoDB should be used for tables performing mostly updates and MyISAM should be used for tables performing mostly reads, I heard myself saying to my co-workers. Also, wherever you can make joins in the WHERE clause and not in the FROM statement. The WHERE is performed first and will limit the amount of rows you will actually join on. And lastly, after finishing the whole DB assignment, I admit it was actually a little bit of fun tuning the database.
3. Understand the importance of event logging and system monitoring within an enterprise-class system, and demonstrate how to put a logging/monitoring system in place.
When someone mentions logging and programming together in a sentence, a yawn is usually the most appropriate response. Dr. Liddle taught us otherwise. Logging is a very important function of any enterprise architecture. With million of things going on in your system, diagnosing a problem would be very difficult without a standardized way of dealing with errors. At my current workplace, on programmer in particular likes to put the error 2319 at many places in his code. If you’ve seen Monsters Inc., you’ll remember that number as the code for human contamination. Needless to say, that error doesn’t do a whole lot of good in explaining anything about the particular error. You might as well put nothing down! This is where logging would come in handy.
4. Enhance your teamwork and communication skills by delivering a solid group paper and an in-class presentation on an ISys 532 topic.
Kent and I had great expectations to jump on this paper from the get go and be finished with two weeks to spare. Needless to say, as always, other things popped up and we spent the last few days working vigorously to produce the paper and presentation. Overall, it was a good experience to delve more deeply into an information architecture topic. I enjoyed all of the presentations or snapshots of what is out there. Having presentations on lots of topics helped me choose which topics interest me and from there I can research further in those topics.
Conclusion
This class was great in that it exposed me to a lot of the different architectures to be found in any typical enterprise system. What I’ve realized is that there is a lot of information out there and I can’t begin to be an expert in everything or even a novice. But as a future manager and hopefully CIO, I’m expected to have a general surface knowledge of technologies that can and will help my company achieve better results. This class has taught me how to research these technologies and gain a better understanding of them through trial and error, reading articles and peer presentations.
Great class Dr. Liddle, keep up the good work!
Livi's gorgeous smile! And she had to be in this contraption because she saw Samantha in it.
Olivia being a big girl and going up the ladder all by herself.
Dog
Livi trying to sleep!
Brooks(Ingrid and Jared's)
Dexter(Trevor and Megan's)
Olivia and Amy and Olivia's favorite picture pose
Livi cruisin
Ruby(Mindy and Marty's)
Livi wanted goggles like the other big kids. They didn't stay on long because they started fogging up and Livi didn't like not being able to see. That's why she's not looking at the camera!
Kenya(Ryan and Jaimi's) sporting all the gear she could find
Katie and Olivia giving her famous "pretty smile"
The happy couple. Why are they happy? Because someone just took their two year old away to play so now they get to snuggle;)
The Anderton miracle baby, Samantha (Ben and Kimby's)
How precious!
Amy had one so of course Livi had to have one! So cute!
Katie soaking up the sun
Adorable little Ethan
Brystun and Carter sportin some holiday Du Rags
About the best picture of Livi from the whole trip
